It was opening night of Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show last night at Belfast’s Grand Opera House and before the curtain was even raised, it was clear that tonight was going to be a big one.
Celebrating its 50th year, the Rocky Horror Show is enjoying the title of longest continuous run of a contemporary musical anywhere in the world, and seeing how invested the crowd were from the outset, it’s not hard to understand why. The audience are decked out in their finest stilettos, corsets, fishnets and in some cases – just a pair of tiny gold shorts – there is no question that this show has a cult following wherever it goes.
If you’ve never seen or heard of the Rocky Horror Show before, it’s really a simple tale of an all American couple whose car breaks down, causing them to seek refuge in a nearby castle run by the deranged, yet charismatic Dr Frank N Furter where they encounter all sorts of debauchery and delight. It’s a tale as old as time, right?
*Please note images show some previous production cast members*
Reece Budin is our narrator for the evening, and he does well bantering back and forth with the audience throughout the night. That’s the thing with this show, it’s as much about the audience participation as it is about the action on the stage. There’s a sort of unwritten script of callbacks that only die-hard fans know and they heckle the performers with certain (usually filthy) responses to certain lines. The crowd here definitely understood the assignment and the actors revelled in this aspect of the show, even getting a few unscripted belly laughs for their trouble. The local references were a really nice touch with some political humour thrown in for good measure.
The role of Dr Frank N Furter is played by Stephen Webb, an inspired choice of casting whose charisma positively oozes out of every pore. As he slinks around the stage in high heels and feather boas, he is every inch the seductively sexy scientist you would expect to come from Transexual Transylvania.
Kristian Lavercombe plays Riff Raff, Frank’s hunchbacked handyman, and with over 2200 performances under his belt, it’s clear that Lavercombe knows the show inside and out; alongside Suzie McAdam’s Magenta and Darcey Finden’s Columbia, these three never miss a beat.
It would be remiss of me not to specifically mention our beloved couple, Brad and Janet, played by Richard Meek and Haley Flaherty. The pair do a great job of juxtaposing their squeaky clean mild mannered beginnings with the more raunchy and rebellious side that Dr Frank N Furter finally unleashes.
All in all the Rocky Horror Show is unadulterated fun from start to finish. Barely two songs in and we have people dancing in the aisles, doing the Time Warp with gusto and gay abandon (pun definitely intended). By the time we reach the final reprise of Science Fiction/Double Feature the audience is still going, ready to go out on a bang as the performers take their final bows.
I can’t remember the last time I felt such a party atmosphere at the theatre, especially for a Monday night! You would be mad to miss the Rocky Horror Show in it’s 50th year, or maybe you have to be a little bit mad to see it in the first place. Either way we’ll be thinking about this performance for a long time to come. Running until 12th August, you can book tickets or find more information here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.